Parachute flare



Nov. 28, 1933. DRIGGS, JR

PARACHUTE FLARE 3 Sheets-Sheet Filed. Nov. 2:5, 1951 LOUIS I Nov. 28,1933.

| L. DRIGGS, JR

PARACHUTE FLARE Filed Nov 25, 1931 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INIIR LOULS L.DRIGGSJr.

Anna-ma Nov. 28, 193 L. DRIGGS, JR

PARACHUTE FLARE Filed Nov. 25, 1931 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 LOUIS L. DRIGGSJr.

Patented Nov. 28, 1933 mnaonora FLE Louis riees, .lr., Tippecanoe City,om

Application November 23, 1931 Serial No. 576,667

18 Claims. (01. 10224) My invention relates to flares.

In particular, it is the object of my invention to provide a'flare whichmay be electrically controlled as to its expulsion from its casepermitting of remote control of the discharge of the flare.

It is a further object of my invention to provide means of controllingthe electric circuit to prevent accidental discharge of the flare; andmeans cooperating therewith for discharging a plurality of flares as aunit or successively.

It is a further object to provide means of supporting and of dischargingand of controlling the discharge of pyrotechnic flares from airplanes.

It is a further object to provide a novel form of parachute forsupporting flares after the discharge. A i

It is the object of my invention to provide a parachute which will havethe minimum of swinging and rocking and the minimum of rotation and ofmeans of absorbing the shock of applying the load to the parachute.

It is a further object of my, invention to provide a novel form ofholder and of mounting so that they may be mounted for either an up ordown discharge and may be located either on the wing, within the wing oron the fuselage.

Referring to the drawings:

Figure 1 is a section through the fuselage of an airplane showing one ofthe wings in elevation and the location of the control mechanism,

battery, flares and flare holder;

Figure 2 is a diagrammatic view of the control system for firing sixflares, six flares and'their holder and the connected battery with theparts in firing position;

Figure 3 is a similar view with the parts in non-firing or inoperativeposition;

Figure 4 is a side elevation of one of the flares; Figure 5 is a sectionon the line 5-5 of Figure 6; Figure 6 is a top plan view; Figure '7 is asection on the line 7'1 of Figure Figure 8 is a side elevation of thetop of the flare and its holder;

Figure 9 is a section through the flare fuse; Figure 10 is a verticalsection through the flare;

Figure 11 is a section on the line 11-11 of Figure 10;

Figure 12 is a rear elevation of the top of the flare showing the backof the holder;

Figure 13 is a perspective of the parachute opened carrying its load;

Figure 14 is a detail view of one of the corners of the parachuteshowing the air releasing open- Figure 15 is a top plan view;

Figure 16 is a section on the line 1616 of Figure 2. Referring to thedrawings in detail, it will be understood that the flare may fire in anydirection, that is, vertically, up or down, or laterally, and toillustrate the flare positions I have shown it in a vertical discharge,and also for a vertical w discharge up and a-vertical discharge down.

The flare consists of a cylindrical metal container 1, which ispermanently supported within a supporting bracket comprising a sideplate 2 and a side plate 3, a top plate 4 and a back plate 5. The metalcasing 1 is attached by the bolts 6 and nuts 7 to the supporting bracketthrough the top plate 4 thereof which has an aperture 8 in the center.Reinforcing flanges 9, 10 and 11 are mounted on the top of this bracket.Projecting m up through the aperture 8 is a crown piece in the shape ofan inverted funnel, designated 12. Interposed between the crown 12 andthe bottom of the plate 4 is a rubber ring 13 which acts as a shockabsorber when the flare is flred. The upper end of the crown piece 12is'formed into a collar 14 internally threaded for receiving the firingplug 15 which is a cylinder having an opening 16 at the top forreceiving the binding post 17 to which it is connected by the washers 18and 19 of insulation material. To one end of this binding post isconnected the wire 20 and on the other end of the binding post is thewire 21 which has a loop at one end of fine wire 22 that becomesincandescent when the current is placed on the line in order to ignitethe powder 24 which is packed within the cylinder 25 mounted on the loopof wire 22.

This in turn fires the black powder 26 in the firing plug 15. This blackpowder is held in at one end by a cardboard disk 27. The firing plugdischarges into the firing chamber 28 within the crown piece 12 andthereby serves to fire the fuse 29 which projects up above thefelt disk30 located between the top of the projectile casl'zg m 31 and the underside of the top of the flare casing 1. The felt disk prevents flamesreaching the parachute.

The projectile casing is provided on its inner side with an annularwooden block 32 into which is projected the firing end of the fuse 29comprising a cup 33 having powder contents 34 which ignites the layer ofpowder 35 formed on the end of the flare material 36.

This flare material is contained within a p l board cylinder or carton3'7. The bottom of this flare carton or casing 37 is sealed with ametallic disk 38 while the carton itself is provided with a saddle 39 towhich is attached the parachute cable 40, the other end of which isconnected to the parachute 41.

This cable 40 passes through an aperture 42 in a disk 43 which issupported by a metal disk 44. This disk in turn rests upon a thrustmember 45, the other end of which rests upon the hermetically-sealedmetallic enclosure plate 46 that is carried on the bottom of the flarecasing 1.

Referring to the firing mechanism, 47 represents the fuselage of anairplane, while 48 indicates the instrument board thereof or any otherconvenient location for mounting the switch. 49 represents a wingstructure of an airplane in which is mounted within the supportingbracket generally designated 50 a plurality of flare casings 1. Theconstruction of this supporting casing 50 is generally similar to theindividual supporting casing heretofore described.

As shown in Figures 1, 2 and 3, the flares are arranged to be shotupwardly. The flare casing 50 is connected by the wire 51 to some partof the machine as a ground as at 52.

The flares may be either independently operated or may be operated as aunit for discharge. That is, the firing circuit may be independentlyclosed for each flare or may be closed for all of the flares at onetime. For instance, flare A is connected to its switch designated 53 bythe wire 54. Flare B is connected by the wire 55 to its switch 56. FlareC is connected by the wire 57 to its switch 58. Flare D is connected bythe wire 59 to the switch 60. Flare E is connected by the wire 61 to theswitch 62. Flare F is connected by the wire 20 to the switch 63. 64designates a source of current, such as a battery, connected by the wire65 and the wire 66 which is grounded at one end at 67 and the other endis connected to a dash lamp 68 which is in turn connected by the wire 69to the terminal 70 or" the master switch 71. On. the other side it isconnected by the wires 72-'i3!4 and '75 to the switches 58, 59, 62 and63 which have the switch arms 76, "17,

78 and 79. The other side of the battery is coned through its terminal39 and wire 81 to the s in t e locked position. To close any one of theswitches 58, 61), 62 63 it is necessary to move the current controllingswitch arm 84 to on position and to then independently move each one ofthe switch arms '76, 77, '78 and 79 into closed position. When themaster switch 84 with the locking bar 85 is in ofi position the switches58, 60, 62 and 63 are locked against accidental closing. It requires twooperations to close any one of those switches, namely, the closing ofthe current switch by moving the arm as to 011" position and then moveone of the switch arms 76, 77, '78 and "19.

The switches 53 and 56 are of a different type. Before they can functionit is first necessary to throw the current controlling switch arm 84 to"on position and to handle in the unlocked position while in Figure 1 87and rotate it so that the switch plate 88 will engage the terminals 89and 90. The terminals 90 are connected by the wires 91 to the terminals70 of the master switch 71. The other terminals 89 are connected bytheir respective wires 54 and 55 to the flare terminals on flares A andB. By having a switch of this type it is necessary for the operator todo three things:

(1) To close the current switch.

(2) To pull out the individual switch.

(3) To rotate the individual switch into contact making position.

This prevents accidents.

The switch plate 88a is rotated by the handle 88b. The helical spring880 presses the switch plate into the groove 92. It must be lifted outof this groove and rotated a quarter turn in order to be brought inengagement with the terminal points 89 and 99.

Turning to the parachute, one of the essential problems with aparachute, particularly a parachute supporting a flare, is to preventthe-parachute from rocking and thereby bringing the flare within a smokecloud so as to cast a shadow on the ground and still fully illuminatingthe ground.

According, I have provided a parachute which, when open, issubstantially square in outline made up of a plurality of sections 93 towhich the parachute ropes 4112 are connected by straps 942 which may beresilient. But the special feature of my invention is the provision ofair releasing slots 95 at the corners or" the parachute. The margin ofthis slot through which air escapes is bound with a strap 96 on one sideand a resilient strap 9'7 on the other joint by a strap 95 parachute.When the rocking of the parachute is prevented the parachute does notspill air and,

therefore, descends more slowly messing up for the loss of air throughthe siot 95 so that the net speed of descent is ab it the same as thatof parachutes now made in the without the dis advantage of excessiverotation and rocking. Of

course, my parachute is adaptable to support other objects than flares.

It will he understood I desire to comprehend my invention suchmodifications as may be necessary adapt it to varying conditions anduses.

It will be understood that the purpose of the slots in the parachute isto provide a slow rotation due to tangential discharge or the air dur--The parachute slowly rotates and to swing. This attempt to change theplane of a oscillation. results in dampening out the oscillation. Bymaking the adjacent the vent openings resilient. the further advantageis gained of controlling the rotation of the para= chute. Thus, thevents can open quite wide at the instant of high load and close up laterto provide the normal opening which is desired during descent.

t will be understood that invention will apply to a parachute of anyshape with means to cause slow rotation as it is the slow rotationbrought about in this case by the use oi slots that (lamps out theoscillation. It is new in the art to use rotation as a means ofdampening oscillation. I also desire to comprehend within my inventionmeans, such as a parachute, of unsymmetrical form that would thereby becaused to slowly rotate or the use of shroud lines of unequal length tocause the chute to rotate.

I comprehend within my invention any means of causing rotation tothereby dampen oscillation, but I have shown one of the preferred formsin my drawings which are described in my specification.

By weight I refer to any body of any character attached to theparachute.

Having thus fully described my invention, what .I claim as new anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is: I

1. In a flare, a casing, a parachute, a flare connected thereto, anexpelling charge in the casing for expelling the flare and itsparachute, and means for resiliently supporting said flare and itscasing.

2. In a flare, a bracket, a casing releasably supported by the bracket,a parachute, a flare connected thereto, an expelling charge in thecasing for expelling the flare and its parachute, and means forelectrically firing the explosive charge for expelling the flare and itsparachute from the casing.

3. In a flare, a casing, means for yieldingly and releasably supportingthe casing, a parachute, a flare connected thereto, an expelling chargein the casing for expelling the flare and its parachute, means forelectrically firing the explosive charge for expelling the flare and itsparachute from the casing, a time fuse between the expelling charge andthe flare adapted to be ignited by the expelling charge and upon burningto a predetermined point after the expulsion of the flare to ignite theflare.

4. In a flare, a casing, a parachute, a flare connected thereto, anexpelling charge in the casing for expelling the flare and itsparachute, means for electrically firing the explosive charge forexpelling the fiareand its parachute from the casing, a time fusebetween the expelling charge and the flare adapted to be ignited by theexpelling charge and upon burning to a predetermined point after theexpulsion of the flare to ignite the flare, and explosive meansassociated therewith for blowing the time fuse away from the end of theflare upon ignition.

5. In a flare construction, the combination of a hermetically-sealedcasing, an explosive expelling charge in one end thereof, a seal at theother end thereof, a parachute and flare therebetween, and means forelectrically igniting the expelling charge.

6. In a flare construction, the combination of a hermetically-sealedcasing, an explosive expelling charge in one end thereof, a seal at theother end thereof, a parachute and flare therebetween, a time fusebetween said explosive and said flare, and means for electricallyigniting the expelling charge.

7. In a flare construction, the combination of a hermetically-sealedcasing, an explosive expelling charge in one end thereof, a seal at theother end thereof, a parachute and flaretherebetween, a time fusebetween said explosive and said flare, a support on said flare forsupporting the time fuse, and means for electrically igniting theexpelling charge.

8. In a flare construction, the combination of a hermetically-sealedcasing, a firing plug having therein an explosive expelling charge inone end of the casing, means to yieldingly support the casing, a seal atthe other end thereof, a

parachute and flare therebetween, a time fuse between said firing plugand said flare, a support on said flare for supporting the time fuse,and a second explosive charge ignitible by the time fuse for blowing offsaid time fuse support and igniting the flare at a predetermined pointin the air.

9. In a flare construction, the combination of a hermetically-sealedcasing, a firing plug having therein an explosive expelling charge inone end of the casing, means to yieldingly support the casing, a seal atthe other end thereof, a parachute and flare therebetween, a time fusebetween said firing plug and said flare, a support on said flare forsupporting the time fuse, a second explosive charge ignitible by thetime fuse for blowing off said time fuse support and igniting the flareat a predetermined point in the air, and means to separate the flare andparachute into separate compartments.

10. In a flare construction, the combination of a hermetically-sealedcasing, a firing plug having thereinan explosiveexpelling charge in oneend of the casing, means to yieldingly support the casing, a seal at theother endthereof,aparachute and flare therebetween, a time fuse andsupport therefor between said firing plug and said flare, a support onsaid flare for supporting the time fuse, a second explosive chargeignitible by the time -fuse for blowing off said time fuse support andigniting the flare at a predetermined point in the air, and means toseparate the flare and parachute into separate compartments, and athrust means between said separating means and the seal on the end ofthe flare casing in the parachute compartment whereby the force of theexpelling charge will force theflare against the partition between itand the parachute and the thrust member engaging the partition willforce out the sealing member so that both flare and parachute may beejected from the casing.

11. In combination, a one-piece tubular casing having atone end acone-shaped crown with a firing plug therein, a detachable seal at theother end, a propelling charge in the firing plug, a time fuse adjacentthe firing plug, a second explosive connected therewith, means ofsupporting the time fuse and explosive on the end of a flare, a flare,and a flare case, a parachute and means connecting said flare case andsaid parachute.

12. In combination, a one-piece tubular casing having at one end afiring plug, threaded therein, a detachable seal at the other .end, apropelling charge in the firing plug, a time fuse adjacent the firingplug, a second explosive connected therewith, means of supporting thetime fuse and explosive on the end of a flare, a flare, and a flarecase, a parachute, means connecting said flare case and said parachute,a partition between said flare and parachute.

13. In combination, a one-piece tubular 0 having at one end acone-shaped crown, a de-- tachable seal at the other end, a propellingcharge in the crown, a time fuse adjacent the crown, a second explosiveconnected. therewith, means of supporting the time fuse and explosive onthe end of a flare, a flare, and a flare case, a parachute, meansconnecting said fiare case and said parachute, a partition between saidflare and parachute, a thrust member between said partition, and adetachable seal at the end of the casing.

14. In combination, a casing having a chamber in'its closed end, ahermetic seal at the other end, a detachable firing plug mounted in itsclosed end, an electric wire in said firing plug, a readily ignitiblesubstance surrounding said wire, a charge of powder surrounding saidsubstance, a time fuse adjacent said powder ignitible thereby, a flarecover carrying said fuse, a propelling charge ignitible by said fuselocated between said cover and a flare, a flare mounted in said coverignitible thereby, and a parachute connected to said flare.

15. In combination, a casing having a chamber in its closed end, ahermetic seal at the other end, a detachable firing plug mounted in itsclosed end, an electric wire in said firing plug, a readily ignitiblesubstance surrounding said wire, a charge of powder surrounding saidsubstance, a time fuse adjacent said powder ignitible thereby, a flarecover carrying said fuse, a propelling charge ignitible by said fuselocated between said cover and a flare, a flare mounted in said coverignitible thereby, a parachute connected to said flare, said connectioncomprising a casing for the flare and a cable connection between thecasing and the parachute.

16. In combination, a casing having a firing firing said propellingcharge, a felt cushion adjacent thereto, a flare cover supporting saidcushion, a time fuse in said flare cover, a propelling charge ignitiblethereby carried by said cover, means to form a chamber in said coverbe-- tween it and the flare, a flare casing and flare mounted withinsaid cover, said flare being exposed to the propelling charge, and aparachute connected to the other end of the cover.

1'7. In combination, a casing having a firing chamber at one end and ahermetic seal at the other, a propelling charge, means of electricallyfiring said propelling charge, a felt cushion adjacent thereto, a flarecover supporting said cushion, a time fuse in said flare cover, apropelling charge ignitible thereby carried by said cover, means to forma chamber in said cover between it and the flare, a flare casing andflare mounted within said cover, said flare being exposed to thepropelling charge, a parachute connected to the other end of the cover,and resilient supporting means for said casing.

18. In a flare, a casing having at one end a f cone-shaped crown, and adetachable firing plug in the crown.

LOUIS L. DRIGGS; JR.

